And the Hi there and welcome to So Diocese songwriting Songwriting, episode 262.

This is Brian, accompanied as ever by Simon, and with us today is a multi-grammy winning American

singer, songwriter and musician who first rose to prominence as Front Woman and Principal Songwriter of Blues Rockers Alabama Shakes.

Since that band went on indefinite hiatus in 2018, she's been carving out an impressive solo career,

and as this episode reaches you she's just released

her second album the mesmerizing What Now co-produced with frequent collaborator Sean

Everett and recorded in their adopted hometown of, we are thrilled to welcome the sensational Brittany Howard to the show.

Brittany was born in 1988 in Athens, North Alabama, where she grew up on a farm surrounded by a junk yard.

Her dad was a used car salesman.

She was singing from the tender age of three, often sitting in with her uncle and aunt's bluegrass band.

She also listened to a lot of Elvis Presley with her grandma,

while her parents were huge Prince fans and rightly so.

With the encouragement of her hugely influential elder sister Jamie, the young Brittany learned to play keys and drums,

I think bass her hair arsenal when she was around 11. Not content with that. and guitarist Heath Fog. Brittany taught herself to play guitar by ear on her sister's replica

Les Paul and was soon writing songs and playing in various high school bands. By this

time she developed an affinity for heavy rock and prog, particularly Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, yes, and Pink Floyd.

Our guest co-founded Alabama Shakes, originally called The Shakes in 2009 with Heath Fog,

bassist Zach Cockrell, another high school chum and drummer Steve Johnson.

They performed regularly at southeast bars and clubs starting out as more of a covers band, but gradually

waking their own material into the set. They eventually came to the attention of the wider listening public in 2011

when their song You Ain't Alone was shared on the Aquarium Drunkard music blog by its founder just Engage.

Not long after that, drive by Truckers frontman Patterson Hud

...